After All
by Freaksngeeksss
Summary: After Michonne and Judith spend a lovely day together, Michonne starts to remember her biggest loss since the walkers started inhabiting the planet. And Rick is there to catch her when she falls.


Michonne uncovered her face from her hands slowly.

"Peekaboo," she says in a squeaky voice, making baby Judith wail with laughter. The sound of her laugh making Michonne beam and laugh as well. She tickles her little tummy, and they baby laughs some more. Judith climbs into Michonne's lap and puts her hands on Michonne's cheeks attempting to tickle her back. Michonne laughs at her attempt and then gives her a kiss on the forehead. Judith starts to yawn and rub her eyes.

"Someone feeling sleepy? I don't blame you, we had a busy day," she picks her up and then heads for the stairs, "Come on little one, let's get you ready for bed.

Michonne carries her into the bathroom, and begins to fill the sink with lukewarm water. She helps Judith out of her onesie and diaper, and places her in the water. Humming a sweet tune she begins to wash the baby.

She started to think about the day she just had with her favorite girl. It had been a couple weeks after the wolves attacked and a herd passed through the safe zone. Since then she had been working nonstop helping Rick keep the community together. They had to rebuild part of the wall that kept them relatively safe, and take care of the bodies of the dead and ones of the who had perished during the attack, one of which was Jessie and her eldest boy. She had to take care of Rick, who had actually aided in Jessie's death, which he did not take well. Turns out during his madness, when they had first arrived at the safe zone, he had led the poor woman on while projecting unresolved feelings for his dead wife onto her. After Michonne knocked him out, it seemed to knock some sense into him and bring him back into reality. But the damage had already been done. After that Jessie had clung to Rick, and Grimes being the southern gentleman she knew he was, he didn't tell her to back off. Making the moment when he chopped her arm off to save Carl, one of the worst things he ever done, so he said.

Michonne had been so busy, she hadn't had time for herself. So she took off and hung out with Judith for the day. And what a day it had been.

"So which did you like better, going to the pond or visiting the Wattersons?" she asked the baby who was busy playing in the water. Judith splashed, "Yeah, I liked the pond too. The Wattersons are nice, but they can be chatterboxes." Judith laughed. The elderly couple down the lane were nice and whenever they saw Judy they insisted on playing with her. They never thought they'd see a baby again, and Michonne just couldn't say no to the old couple.

She rinsed out Judith hair and then wrapped her in a towel. They entered her room, and she put Judith in her nighty and placed her in her crib. Judith didn't lay down though, she held herself up with the top of the crib and stared at Michonne, her lip quivering.

"Uh-uh, baby girl. It's time for bed," Michonne tries to lay her down, but she gets back up and starts to cry.

"Judy not tonight, hun you know the drill," Judith is not ready for bed though and she starts to reach for Michonne to pick her up. It breaks Michonne's heart to see her cry. _No, Judith needs to know when it is time to play and when it is time for bed_ , she thinks to herself and starts to turn.

"Ma..Ma," Judith says through sobs, which stops Michonne in her tracks. She turns and looks at the baby. Judith notices she got her attention, she reaches again, and a little more clearly says, "Mama".

Michonne is in shock, she can't move from her spot. She feels, well she's not sure exactly what she feels at that moment. Confusion, happiness, sadness, then… She shakes herself out of the shock, when Judith attempts to climb out of the crib. Michonne goes to her and picks her up. She holds her close, and the baby leans her head on her shoulder. Michonne walks with her, humming to her as her breath begins to steady. Michonne tries to control her own as she begins to cry.

XxX

When Rick got home from his shift last night he said goodnight to Carl who had just gotten home from Enid's house, Judith was asleep in her crib, and Michonne's door was closed. He fought his urge to knock, just to see her, but he decided against it not wanting to wake her.

When he woke up and saw that the kitchen was empty save from some dirty dishes left over from breakfast, he figured Michonne walked the kids to their respective school as she always did in the morning, he would meet her at work.

But when he walked into the office and no one was there he was confused. Rick tried not to panic, but his mind was getting the better of him. He turned to go back towards the door to head home, but a citizen came in to tell him that there was a fight brewing down the street in the opposite direction. He and Dave, Rick remembered his name being, trotted down the street.

The fight ended up being something minuscule in Rick's opinion, but Deanna wanted to be thorough. Rick had to interrogate both men, and during the investigation after he figured out who was at fault, he realized they had no justice system within the safe zone, other than if you kill you're exiled. But what about the other crimes? Rick thought that was something he and Michonne could figure out together...Michonne. Through the minor chaos he had been stalled in his journey to find out where she was, but now that things were taken care of, he was back on track. He was a street away from his home when Abraham came running up to him.

"Hey Rick, can you come down to the construction site with me?" he called out.

"Actually Ab, can it wait, I'm kind of busy right now.. Have you seen Michonne," he asks.

"No I haven't, I was actually looking for her, since she's usually patrolling the wall around this time. And it actually can't wait. Some asshole fucked up all our shit down at the site." Rick sighed, it wasn't that he didn't want to help, it was just that he had other things on his mind. He motioned for Abraham to lead the way, and he followed after him.

XxX

By the time Rick was on his way home the sun had set, and the sky looked like a beautiful abstract painting. Though he did not have time to admire it as he hurried to his house. Alexandria wasn't that big, most days you'd see everyone at least twice and he hadn't seen her all day and that made his heart skip beats as he thought about what could have happened to her.

Rick burst through the door to see his son and daughter at the dinner table. Carl was eating a sandwich and feeding his baby sister something mashed. Rick didn't visibly smile, but it made his heart swell to see his kids, if only for a moment. Carl looked at his father, and sensed something was wrong from his demeanor.

"What's up dad?" he said placing Judith's spoon back in her food. Rick shook his head.

"Ah..," he hesitated at first, not wanting to alarm his boy, "Nothing, I'm just looking for Michonne. Have you seen her?"

"No," Carl thought for a second, "I haven't seen her all day actually. I figured you guys were busy with work." Rick nodded but said nothing so Carl continued, "Where is she? What's going on dad? Did she say anything? Did something happen?" with his growing panic, Carl started speaking a mile a minute. And Rick stood there with his mouth agape not sure where to start. He quickly closed the gap between him and his son, and brought him in close.

"Whoa, slow down bud. I'm sure she's alright, and when we find her, I'm sure we'll feel silly for worrying for nothing," he looked down at his son and gave him a small smile, that probably didn't reach his eyes. Carl nodded his head, equally as unbelieving, "Carl, I need you to watch you sister alright?" Carl gave a more firm nod, and went back to the table.

Rick headed up stairs and entered his room. He made sure he had his colt, a flashlight and wind breaker before he exited. He was on his way to the stairs when he saw in the corner of his eye that Michonne's door was still closed as it had been when he saw it last night. He walked over to the door, and knocked softly a couple times. He didn't hear anything, so he decided to try it again.

"Michonne," he called out quietly to not startle the kids downstairs and potentially Michonne behind the door. Still nothing. He turned the knob, and opened the door a crack and peaked in. The room was dark, but he head something, like glass hitting the floor, in the bathroom that adjoined both his and her room. He went over and opened the bathroom door.

"Michonne-" he started but stopped taking in the scene. Michonne lay slumped down on the floor of the bathroom next to the toilet, wine bottle in hand. And another 2 empty on the floor. Her cheeks were stained with past tears that had trickled down them and he could see her eyes were bloodshot even though they were half closed. Rick stood there frozen in his spot and he felt like he couldn't move. Not until Michonne reached for the toilet and started to vomit and heave into its basin. Rick ran over, and he knelt down next to her, he pulled her hair back so it didn't get caught in the mess and he rubbed her back.

"It's alright, let it out," he coaxed her. When she was done with this episode she sat back down and leaned into Rick's chest. He put his arms around her, rubbing up and down her arms. Rick feels something wet fall on his chest and looks down to see that she is crying, the new tears making new rivers through the old ones. Tears start to well up in his own eyes. He pulls her in tighter.

"'Chonne," his southern drawl drawing out her name, "It's going to be alright." Her body starts to contort with each sob, and all he can do is hold her tighter still.

"What happened 'Chonne?" he asks quietly, almost a whisper.

"He's...gone," she gets out between breaths, "He'ssgone...anI'msstillhere… It'ssnotfair!"

she continues to cry.

"Who's not here 'Chonne," he asks running his fingers through her hair. Michonne breath starts to calm down, and her tears come to a stop. "Hmm?" Rick tries again now that she is a bit more calm, but Michonne doesn't answer. Instead she starts to sit up out of his embrace.

"I'mhot," she slurs out trying to stand, though she takes a misstep and Rick has to quickly steady her. Holding onto his shoulder she begins to take her shirt off. Rick tries to gently stop her, but she sloppily slaps his hand away. She takes it off. And then she starts on her pants until she is down to just her underwear. Even though he really wanted to, Rick tries his best not to look and hold her up at the same time. With his help she makes her way to the walk in shower, and turns on the cold knob on. Almost slipping she tries to make her way underneath the shower head, but she has difficulty. Rick not minding the water drenching his clothes, walks her to it. Once underneath the water her face looks visibly relieved. She lifts her head up so that it hits her directly, and at that point Rick looked down at her a little amused, but mostly relieved himself that she is finding some comfort from it. But his eyes didn't stop on her face, his eyes traveled down the length of her body, and back up again. Once he realized what he was doing he mentally chastised himself. She turned the shower knob off and stared for the door.

"I got you," he said as she reached behind her for his support. They exited, and he grabbed a towel off the rack. He wrapped it around her, and rubbed her back.

"Better?" he asked with a small smile. She nodded her head and her eyes hooded, "Come on let's get you in bed," He said leading her out of the bathroom around the bottles on the floor. She sat on the bed and he went through a couple drawers until he found an over sized t-shirt that he gave to her to use as a nightshirt. She started to get under the covers, and hiccuped as she did so stopping herself. She swallowed and he stayed still gagging whether or not her would have to get her back to the bathroom or not.

"You ok, you going to throw up again?" he looked on worriedly. Michonne closed her eyes for a second, and then opened them shaking her head. She got under the covers and Rick tucked her in a bit more. She laid on her back and got more comfortable. But Rick started to pull her back onto her side.

"You shouldn't be on your back, just in case you get sick," he said. She felt his wet hand on her arm.

"You're all wet," she said a little confused but not really paying that much attention to what was happening.

"Right," Rick said looking down at his attire, "Alright I'll be right back. Stay on your side, and if you need to get sick again," he went into the bathroom and quickly came back with the trashcan and placed it by the bed, "here you go. I'll be right back ok?" She nods sleepily and he runs into his room to change.

XxX

After changing into a white t-shirt and some sweats Rick made his way down stairs. He saw Carl eating a piece of chocolate and peaking out the window, worry stricken on his face.

"Carl you should be getting on to be now," Carl turned around at the sound of his father's voice.

"Dad what have you been doing? You said you were going to look for Michonne," he said looking out the window again.

"Carl, she's upstairs. She's..," he stops for a second, "not feeling to hot. I popped down to actually get her some apsin," he says going to the cabinet, "You should go to bed."

"So she's going to be ok?" Carl asked more hopeful. Rick didn't know the answer to that statement after what he had just witnessed. Physically, she would most likely be fine, but emotionally...He had never seen Michonne like that, not even after Andrea had died. Rick decided to nodded his head though, and from his confirmation Carl let out a breath and smiled. He headed towards the stairs.

"I put Judith to bed already. I'll see you in the morning dad. G'night!" he ran up.

"Good night son," Rick said. He looked down at the bottle of aspirin and then grabbed a box of saltine crackers and a cup of water, and headed back up to Michonne's room.

He backed open the door and walked in seeing that she was fast asleep on her back again. He sighed exasperated. He quickly set the goodies he had down on the nightstand next to the bed. Sitting on the edge of the bed with his back against the headboard and one foot on the ground, Rick lifts her so her back is resting against him, and not liking that position she turns in her sleep so that she is resting on her side with her arm slung over Rick lap. Rick pauses for a second deciding what to do, and then he sets his hand on top of hers and the other around her shoulder. He looks down at her and moves a stray dreadlock from her face.

XxX

The rays of sun beamed through the curtains warming Michonne's face. She attempted to cover her eyes from the intruding light, but failed. She was awake. She attempted to lift her head, but a throbbing pain and ringing sound in her ears made her lay back down immediately.

"Goodmorning," a voice softly called to her. She immediately knew who it was, she could recognize that southern twang anywhere.

"Morning," she said hoarsely, "You been here all night?".

"All night. How's your head?"

"Mmm like some took a jackhammer to it," she put her hand on her forehead. She then realized what position they were in and she pulled her body away from his. She blinked, "What..What happened?" she noticed that they were fully clothed so nothing too substantial could have gone down.

"You tell me," he said taking the aspirin out of the bottle and giving it and the water to her, "Here take this," she did as she was told, "And he's some saltines to settle your stomach," he said getting back into his position on the bed. He watched her intently as she took a bite of cracker and laid down facing the ceiling. When she didn't speak, he took the liberty to continue.

"I didn't see you all yesterday, no one had. I got worried and went looking for you. That's when I found you..."

"Oh god…" she said putting her hands over her face embarrassed.

"Yeah. You were pretty upset. Do you..Want to talk about it?" she takes her hand from her face and shakes her head, "You know...You're so strong, you've been my rock in more ways than one. You've always been there for me. Even when I didn't want it, but I needed it, or when I didn't deserve it because I was acting like an ass," he chuckled, "You told me you were with me, but, I never told you that I am with you too Michonne. I don't know if you know that…"

"I do...," she said quietly.

"That's good," he said nodding his head, "You are always there for me. Please let me be there for you," he finished his voice starting to lean towards pleading. A tear slid down her face, Rick saw and wiped her tear away with his thumb and rubbed her cheek. They said like that for a little while, just looking into each others eyes. His pleading for her to go on, and her's pleading for him to stop asking. Finally Rick looked away.

"Well, when you're ready, you can tell me. But I'm not going anywhere," he said and he put his arm back around her. Michonne hadn't felt like this in a long time. Love. Well she felt love from her family and Carl, and Judith. But this was different. She hadn't felt love like this since… Since Andrea. And though she was scared of venturing in that new territory with someone, she welcomed it as well. She put her arm around his torso, and he pulled her in closer.

"Thank you," she whispered. In response Rick left a gentle kiss on the top of her head and shut his eyes as well. This was something new, but they would take it one step at a time. They were there in Alexandria to build a life after all.

 **A/N:** _After some talk on Tumblr about Michonne and Rick's friendship being one-sided, I thought of the scenario where Rick would find out about Michonne's son. I feel like that would be an amazing moment for Michonne to be comforted by him. And it would be a moment that wasn't about him, but all about her. So Idk, is this over, or should I write more?_


End file.
